Six minutes was all Manchester United needed, and then they spent the rest of the afternoon hanging on. Julia Zigiotti Olme's chipped finish beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Women's Super League, gave Eva Olid's side back-to-back league wins and, at long last, a clean sheet.
It was also the club's 250th game, which the BBC noted as a milestone. United marked it the right way: with three points over a team they have beaten twice running.
A gift in the opening minutes
United pressed high from the first whistle. That paid off when Khiara Keating, the Liverpool goalkeeper, played a poor pass out from the back and Zigiotti Olme read it. The midfielder intercepted, looked up, and lofted the ball over a stranded Keating into the net. Liverpool had barely settled and were already behind.
To their credit the visitors grew into the match. Phallon Tullis-Joyce had to make a superb double save to deny Cornelia Kapocs and then Beata Olsson from close range, and she stopped Olsson again later in the half with a smart save at the near post. It was an end-to-end first 45 minutes. Jess Park crashed a shot off the crossbar, Andrea Medina thumped the rebound towards the near post, and Keating tipped that behind. With the last kick of the half Ella Toone, left out of the England squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers, threaded a ball through to Medina, but Keating smothered it.
Tullis-Joyce and the back line hold firm
Elisabeth Terland tried to double the lead with a curling effort after the break and Keating pushed it clear. That was as close as United came to a second, and in the end they did not need it. Tullis-Joyce finished with eight key saves. Anna Sandberg and Maya le Tissier made six clearances each in front of her, and the whole unit looked organised in a way United had not managed in recent weeks.
That matters because of how the past fortnight went. Olid's team conceded in the 95th minute against Arsenal and in the 92nd against West Ham, and neither goal came from sloppy football so much as a failure to see a game out. This time they did. It is the first clean sheet United have kept in all competitions this season.
Where this leaves both sides
The win lifts United to sixth, behind Liverpool on goal difference. They have not lost in their last 31 league matches when scoring first, a run that dates back to a 2-1 defeat by Liverpool in December 2023. Olid was pleased but not carried away. She said there was a lot still to improve, especially the last pass and the finishing in the final third, though she liked how her players were beginning to click and fight for each other.
Liverpool will feel they deserved more. Their expected goals figure was 1.41 against United's 0.59, and Olsson, Kapocs and Marie Hobinger each put two shots on target without beating Tullis-Joyce. Manager Gareth Taylor said his team made an early error and then became too direct, falling into the style United wanted. Liverpool have now conceded four first-half goals in five league games, and only Charlton, with five, have let in more before the break. The second league defeat of their season leaves Taylor with plenty to fix before the next one.
Match facts: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool, Women's Super League, Saturday 3 October 2026. Goal: Zigiotti Olme 6'. Man of the match (BBC user ratings): Zigiotti Olme. Source: BBC Sport.
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